maniac
Americannoun
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maniacs
plural
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a raving or violently insane person; lunatic.
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any intemperate or overly zealous or enthusiastic person.
a maniac when it comes to details.
adjective
noun
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a wild disorderly person
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a person who has a great craving or enthusiasm for something
a football maniac
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obsolete psychiatry a person afflicted with mania
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of maniac
First recorded in 1595–1605, maniac is from the Medieval Latin word maniacus of, pertaining to madness. See mania, -ac
Explanation
A maniac is a crazy person. Screaming like a maniac is never a good way to get your point across. Long ago, the word maniac was an official psychiatric term that meant "a patient suffering from mania," or manic disorder, involving a euphoric mood and extreme energy. Maniac isn't used in a clinical way anymore, but only informally to mean "lunatic." You might describe yourself running around the house like a maniac looking for your car keys, or dismiss your sports-obsessed brother as "a football maniac." The Greek root is mania, or "madness."
Vocabulary lists containing maniac
It's Madness!: Mania
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The Hot Zone
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The 15 Most Relevant Words from the Fifth Republican Presidential Debate (+5 more words of note)
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“I have been just rehabbing like a maniac, sleeping in a hyperbaric chamber, red lighting my way back.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 4, 2026
Walking and typing is dangerous, but walking and talking like a maniac into my own recorder is merely antisocial.
From Slate ● May 24, 2026
The “Saturday Night Live” head writer made the most of his time on two legs, playing Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth as a swaggering, pro wrestling-esque maniac.
From Salon ● Dec. 7, 2025
“And I’m not some crazed maniac set out to destroy this nation.”
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 6, 2023
“It’s really nice to meet you, sir. You drive like a wild maniac, and I respect that.”
From "Shadowshaper" by Daniel José Older
As an ordinary man thrust into a world of monsters and maniacs, Neill is inherently playing with ideas about art and celebrity that reflect his own career.
From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2026
Along with driving like maniacs, F1 is much about branding.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 25, 2026
“Even maniacs and serial killers serving life sentences have the right to receive a visit, but I don’t,” Mr. Navalny wrote on Twitter.
From New York Times ● Feb. 1, 2023
"No visits are allowed there. This means more than a year without a visit. Even maniacs and serial killers serving life sentences have the right to receive a visit, but I don’t."
From Reuters ● Feb. 1, 2023
My teammates are pogoing around like maniacs, so excited to be giving me this gift.
From "The Running Dream" by Wendelin Van Draanen
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
